Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has attacked his Canadian counterpart, Mark Carney, for appearing to support a protester's claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza in its ongoing war against Hamas.
Taking to his official X account on Thursday, Mr Netanyahu asked Mr Carney, the new leader of the Liberal Party who succeeded Justin Trudeau last month, to "backtrack his irresponsible statement".
He was responding to a video that showed the Canadian PM at an election rally responding to a protester in the crowd who yelled, "Mr Carney, there is a genocide happening in Palestine."
"Thank you... I'm aware. Which is why we have an arms embargo," Mr Carney said as the crowd erupted into wild cheers.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney lets slip his stance on his Israel policy when he responded to an anti-Israel heckler asking about the “genocide” in Gaza
— Bryan Passifiume (@BryanPassifiume) April 9, 2025
“I'm aware, that's why we have an arms embargo,” Carney said, to cheers of “Carney! Carney! Carney!” from the crowd. pic.twitter.com/I2MjwLLPRM
Mr Carney later clarified, saying he didn't "hear the word genocide" and was only "stating a fact" about arms restrictions.
The damage, however, was done, with Mr Netanyahu saying that Canada has always sided with civilization and "so should Mr Carney".
"But instead of supporting Israel, a democracy that is fighting a just war with just means against the barbarians of Hamas, he attacks the one and only Jewish state. Mr Carney, backtrack your irresponsible statement," he posted on X.
Canada has always sided with civilization. So should Mr. Carney. But instead of supporting Israel, a democracy that is fighting a just war with just means against the barbarians of Hamas, he attacks the one and only Jewish state. Mr. Carney, backtrack your irresponsible… https://t.co/27ZcXjew85
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) April 10, 2025
Last month, Mr Netanyahu condemned as "false and absurd" a UN investigation that found Israel had committed "genocidal acts" in Gaza.
"The anti-Israeli circus known as the UN Human Rights Council has long been exposed as an anti-Semitic, corrupt, terror-supporting, and irrelevant body," Netanyahu said March 13.
"Instead of focusing on crimes against humanity and the war crimes committed by the Hamas terrorist organisation in the worst massacre against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, the UN once again chooses to attack the state of Israel with false accusations, including absurd claims" of destroying sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities in Gaza, he said.
His response came after the UN Commission of Inquiry said Israel had "intentionally attacked and destroyed" the Palestinian territory's main fertility centre and had simultaneously imposed a siege and blocked aid, including medication for ensuring safe pregnancies, deliveries and neonatal care.
The commission found that Israeli authorities "have destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza as a group through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare", it said in a statement.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas attacked Israeli towns on October 7, 2023. More than 50,000 people have been killed since then.
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